Steam-engine.



PATENTED MAY 12, 1903.

0. GROMPTON'. STEAM ENGINE. APPLIOA'ITION FILED SEPT. 25, 1901.

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No. 727,752., PATENTED MAY 12, 1903. 0. GROMPTON.

STEAM ENGINE. I

APfLI JATION Flinn SEPT. 25, 1901.

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UNITED STATES v Patented May 12, 1903.

PATENT GFFIG "STEAM- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters ENGINE.

Patent No. 727.752, dated May 12, 1903.

Application filed September 25, 1901'. Serial No. 76,549. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may'conaern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES CRoMPToN, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Worcester,coun'ty of. Worcester, StateofMassachusetts,have invented an Improvement in Steam-Engines, of which the followingdescription, in connection with the accompany-. ing drawings, is aspecificatiom'like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to steam-engines; and it is the object oftheinvention to provide an engine of few parts and compact form which iscapable of generating great power, thus especially adapting the enginefor use in propelling motor vehicles or yachts.

With this objectin view my imvention comprises an engine. having one ormore singleactingoylinders combined with arotary valve adapted tosuccessively admit steam to the various cylinders and to exhaust ittherefrom. The valve is preferably a hollow valve and steam is admittedto the interior thereof, from which it passes through suitablesteam-ports to the inlet-ports of the'various cylinders.

In connection with my rotary valve I have provided a novel form ofcut-0d valve which is concentric with the rotary valve and by itsadjustment operates to vary the point of cutoff of the main rotary valveto any desired extent without in any way affecting the lead or exhaustclosure. 1 have also provided in connection with the usual exhaust-portsin the valve supplementary openings, which remain open after the mainexhaust is closed and which allow any water of condensation that mayaccumulate in the cylinder tobe forced therethrough. With 'thisconstruction the engine may be started at any time without the necessityof draining the cylinders, and as soon as the water of condensation isforced through said supplementary exhaust-openings pounding andhammering will cease.

In the drawings, Figure l is a vertical central section of my improvedengine. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the steam-chest with the upper capremoved, this view showing the admission and exhaust ports leading toand from the cylinders. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 3, Fig. 1.Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the engine. Figs. 5 toSare detail-viewsshowing the operation of my improved cut-off showing different positionsof the rotary valve.

Referring to Fig. l, 3 indicates the steamchest of the engine, it havinga cylindrical bore in which the rotary valve 4, hereinafter described,is mounted for rotation. The steam-chest 3 preferably comprises the baseportion 5 and the cap portion 6, the said cap portion being secured tothe base portion in any suitable way, as by bolts 7, Fig. 3. The lowersideof' the base portion 5 is provided with a series of recessesformed-by the depending flanges 8, there beingfour such recesses in thisembodiment of my invention, and in said recesses is supported one end ofthe cylinders 9. (Seen in Figs. 1 and 3.) The opposite end of each ofthe cylinders 9 is inserted in an aperture in a supporting-plate 10, thesaid apertures being of asize to tightly fit the cylinders, and the saidSupportingbeing supported in hearings in a series of cross bearingmembers 15, which are connected in any usual way to the base at 16. Thebearing members 15 are rigidly tied to the supporting-plate 10 by meansof the tie members 17, by means of which structure it will be seen thatthe steam-chest and bearings for the crank-shaft are connected to form asufficiently rigid structure, so that the engine-may be used verticallyor horizontally, as circumstances may dictate. By making the cylindersto fit the recesses in the steamchest with a driving fit and bysupporting the free end of..the cylinders in the plate 10, as abovedescribed, I am enabled to build an engine which is extremely light, andyet which is sufiiciently rigid so that it does not shake or jar-when inuse. Preferably the tie members 17 are made rigid with thecross-bearings 15 in some suitable way and are provided with the collar18, against which the supporting-plate 10 rests. The tie members passthrough the supporting-plate and their extended ends valve; and Figs. 9to 24, inclusive, are views preferably form the tie members 11, the saidplate 10 being clamped between suitable nuts 19 on the tie-rod and theshoulders 18. Inasmuch as in this embodiment of myiuvention there arefour cylinders,I will make the cranks on the crank-shaft 14.- on thequarter, and the valve 4 is constructed, as hereinafter described, so asto admit steam successively to the various cylinders. By this means apractically constant force is applied to the crankshaft to turn thesame. The cylinders, as above stated, are single-acting, and the valve4.- operates both to admit the steam to the cyl inders and to allow itto exhaust therefrom. In this embodiment of my invention the valve is ahollow one and the live steam is admitted to the interior thereof, thesteam being admitted to the cylinder through steam-ports in the valvewhich extend through the same, while the steam is exhausted throughrecesses on the periphery of the valve, which are adapted to connect theexhaust-ports of the cylinders with a steam or exhaust chamber in thesteam-chest. Preferably I employ two admission-ports 21, leading throughthe steamchest to each cylinder, and one separate exhaust-port 22 foreach cylinder, and the valve is made with a series of steam-portscooperating with the admission-ports of each cylinder and a similarseries of recesses in its periphery cooperating with the exhaust-port ofeach cylinder, so that during the rotation of the valve steam isadmitted to each cylinder a plurality of times. This construction is ofadvantage where high speed is a desiderat u m, for the rotary speed ofthe valve may be comparatively slow compared with that of thecrank-shaft, andas there is no oscillating motion of the valve at all,but simply a continuous rotary motion, all reciprocating movements whichare a bar to the attainment of high speed are abolished. As statedbefore, said valve 4: fits a cylindrical bore in the steam chest and atits end communicates with the steam-inlet pipe 23, which operates toadmit steam to the interior of the valve. Cooperating with theinlet-ports 21 for each cylinder are a series of steam-ports 25,extending through the valve, there being four such ports in thisembodiment of my invention positioned ninety degrees apart. The angulardistance between the ports is the same as that between theadmission-ports 21, so that as the valve 4 is rotated steam-ports 25come opposite both the ad mission-ports 21 simultaneously, and steam isad mit-ted to the cylinder through both ports. In order that steam maybe admitted to the various cylinders successively, the steam-ports inthe valve which cooperate with the different cylinders have a differentcircumferential position on the valve. For instance, the steam-ports 25cooperating with cylinder at will admit steam during the first quarterof the rotation of the crank-shaft 14, the steam-ports cooperating withcylinder 1) will admit steam thereto through the second quarter ofrotation of said crank shaft, and steam will be admitted through theproper ports 25 to cylinder 0 during the third quarter of the rotationand to cylinder (1 during the last quarter of the rotation. Since thevalve t rotates at only onequarter of the speed of the crank-shaft, itwill be seen that the steam-ports 25 for the successive cylinders willbe spaced circumferentially about twenty-two and one-half degrees apart.

Fig. 12 illustrates the position of the steamports corresponding to theposition of the piston in cylinder a-that is, the steam is beingadmitted to the cylinder and the piston is moving in the direction ofthe arrow, Fig. 1.

Fig. 11 illustrates the position of the steamports in the valvecontrolling the admission of steam to cylinder 19.

Fig. 10 illustrates the steam-ports for cylinder c, and Fig. 9illustrates the steam-ports for cylinder (1. The direction of rotationof the valve in these figures is indicated by the arrow.

The steam-chest 3 has the steam-spaces 30, which partially surround thevalve 4 and which are connected by the passage 31, the said steam-spacesand passage forming an exhaust-chamber which communicates with theexhaust-pipe 32. The valve 4 has formed in its periphery opposite eachexhaust-port 22 a series of recesses 37, either side of eachexhaust-port the said valve is supported on bearing-surfaces 35 and 36,respectively, the bearing-surface 36 being longer than the recesses 37and the bearing-surface 35 being shorter than the said recess. With thisconstruction it will be seen that as the valve rotates from the positionshown in Fig. 15 to that shown in Fig. 14 the exhaust-port 22 isconnected through the recess 37 with the steam-space 30 of theexhaust-chamber, and the steam will consequently be exhausted from thecylinder.

Fig. 16 illustrates the position of the exhaust-recesses in the valvecorresponding to the position of the steam-port shown in Fig. 12. Thesetwo figures show the position of the inlet and exhaust ports for theposition of the piston in the cylinder a. When the piston reaches thelower end of its stroke-that is, the position of the piston in cylinderbthe valve will be in the position shown in Figs. 11 and 15-that is, theexhaust is just ready to open and the steamport is closed. As the pistonascends to the position shown in cylinder 0 the exhaust continues open,as shown in Fig. 14:, and the steam-port continues closed, as shown inFig. 10. When the cylinder approaches the upper end of its stroke, theexhaust-port will close, and the steam remaining in the cylinder will becompressed to cushion the piston, as is customary, and as the pistonreaches the extreme upward limit of its stroke the valves are in theposition shown in Figs. 9 and 13, the steam-ports in the valve beingjust ready to admit steam to the inlet-ports 21.

It is necessary that the speed of rotation of the valve have a definiterelation to-the speed of the engine, and I therefore prefer to rotate myvalve by mechanism driven by the crank-shaft of the engine. Asillustrated, the end of thecrank-shaft14 hasfast thereon the bevel-gear40, which meshes with the bevel-gear 41, fast on the shaft 42, whichisjournaled in any suitable way in bearings 43 and 44, respectively. Theupper end of the shaft carries the bevel-gear 45, which meshes with thebevel-gear 46 on the stem of the valve 4, and the relation between thegears is such that the valve rotates at onequarter the speed of thecrank-shaft.

To reverse the engine, I provide means whereby the valve may be turnedrelative to the crank-shaft and in such position that the steam will beadmittedto the cylinders in the reverse order from that specified above.

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the hub 48 of the bevel-gear45 is elongated and receives within the same the concentric sleeve 49,which is splined to the shaft so as to rotate therewith, but admit ofits having longitudinal movement thereon. The sleeve 49 has projectingfrom opposite sides thereof the pins 50, on whichare supportedantifriction-rolls 51, engaging spiral grooves 52in the hub of thebevel-gear 45. Connected to the lower end of the sleeve 49 is theoperating-lever 53, which is pivoted in anysuitable way tothe frame ofthe engine-and has the forked arm 54 engaging a collar 55 in an annulargroove in the end of the sleeve 49. By

turning the lever 53 the sleeve 49 isKmoved longitudinally of the shaft42 and through the spiral groove 52 turns the bevel-gear, andconsequently the valve, in relation to the shaft.

The position of the valve with relation to the various cylinders whensaid'valve is in its reversed position is shown in Figs. 17 to 20,inclusive, and it will be seen that the steam is just being admitted tocylinder (3?,

(see Fig. 17,) while the steam-ports leading to the cylinder 0 are fullopen, (see Fig. 18,).

the steam -ports leading to b and a being closed, Figs. 19 and 20, whilethe exhaustport leading to the cylinder (1 is open. (See Fig. 24.) Withthis position of the valve;

relative to the position of the pistons the engine will be reversed, aswill be obvious.

It not infrequently happens that the-steam becomes condensed in thecylinders, and

such water of condensation sometimes accumulates in such quantitiesas;to render it impossible to start up the engine without blowing outthe cylinders. To obviate this difficulty and to provide an engine whichwill readily start up under all conditions, I

employa series of auxiliary exhaust-openings in connection with eachexhaust-recess 37, such openings affording a communication between theexhaust-port 22 and the exhaustchamber 30 after the recess 37 or maineX-' haust-port has closed the steam-port 22. The

position of these auxiliary steam-openings is shown in Fig. 13, the saidopeningspassing from the deepest portion of the recess 37 through thebody ofthe valve to the exterior thereof some distance to the rear ofthe edge of the recess.

tion with each recess 37; but thecombined area of the said auxiliaryopenings will be such as notto appreciably affect the volume of upperlimit of its stroke, such water of condensation will be forced outthrough the auxiliary opening 60, as will be evident from an inspectionof Fig. 13.

In engines which are used'for driving motorvehicles it is of greatadvantage to have some mechanism for varying the point of cut-0E of thevalve according to theamount of work being done by the engine.

In my improved valve I have provided in addition to the regular valvefor admitting Preferably I will use three or 'moreof these auxiliaryopenings in connecand exhausting steam from the cylinders a supplementalcut-off valve which may be adjusted to vary the point of cut-off of themain valve. wherein the steam is taken into the interior In thisembodiment of my invention,-

of the main valve, I place my cut-off valve on the interior of the mainvalve, said cut-01f valve being shown as a cylindrical Valve 70,

fitting the interior of the main valve and having, preferably, the twoports 71, which are normally in line with the admission-ports 21 throughthe steam -chest. The cut-off valve 70 is normally stationary and itsstem projects through the hollow stem 73 of the main valve 4. Theprojecting end of the stem of the cut-off valve has secured thereto thepivoted latch 74, the nose of which is adapted to engage any one of aseries of.

'IIC

ginning to open the port 21 and-at the same time has just uncovered theport 71 in..the

cut-off valve.

Referring to Fig. 6, which shows the mainvalve 4 in the position justafter the point of cut-off, it will be'seen that the port 21 is closedjust previous to the port 71, so that- -with the cut-off valve in theposition shown in Figs. 5 and 6 steam willbeadm'itted to the cylinderfor the same length of time it wouldbe if the cut-off valve werenot'used. If it is desired to shorten the cut-off,the valve 70-is movedin the direction of the hands of' a clock-to bring the port 71 into theposition,

for instance, shown'in Figs. 7'and 8. When 1-15 In Fig. 5 the main valve4, which is rot-at ing in the direction of the arrow, is just beso as toout OK steam from the engine, before in this position, it will beobserved that the port 71 is brought into registry with the steamport 25of the valve just before the port 21 is opened, and on referring to Fig.8 it will be seen that the valve 4 has closed the port 71,

the said valve closes the valve 21 in the steamchest. Since no steam isadmitted to the engine after the port 71 is closed, it will be obviousthat the point of cut-off of the engine may be made to occur at anyposition of the stroke of the piston desired.

It will be understood, of course, that the valve runs the full length ofthe valve 4 and has the port 71 cooperating with the ports 25 for eachcylinder.

One important feature of my invention consists in providing in asteam-engine, in connection with a main rotary valve, a cut-off valve,whether manually or automatically operated, which is concentric with themain 1'0- tary valve, and as I believe I am the first to use such astructure I would consider as coming within my invention any form ofvalve mechanism which comprised a rotary main valve and a concentriccut-off valve, whether the concentric cut-oft valve were on the interiorof the main valve and live steam were admitted to the interior of saidcut-off valve, as herein illustrated, or whether the parts were reversedand the steam were exhausted from the interior of the main valve and thelive steam and cut-0ft valve were exterior thereto, or whether thecut-oft valve were on the exterior of the main valve, but the live steamadmitted to the interior of the latter valve, as herein illustrated.

Various other changes may be made in the structure of the device withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of my invention as expressed in theappended claims.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a steam-engine, a steam-chest having a series of recesses on itsexterior, a series of cylinders supported at one end in said recesses, asupporting-plate having a series of apertures into which the other endof said cylinder fits, and tie members connecting said plate andsteam-chest, whereby the cylinders are frictionally held between saidplate and steam-chest.

2. In a steam-engine, a steam-chest having a series of recesses on itsexterior, a series of cylinders supported at one end in said recesses, asupporting-plate having a series of apertures to fit the other end ofsaid cylinders, a bearing member for the crank-shaft, and tie membersconnecting the supportingplate to the steam-chest and bearing memberrespectively.

8. In a valve mechanism for steam-engines, a steam chest a rotary valvetherein and means to rotate the said valve, a plurality ofadmission-ports leading to the cylinder, a

plurality of steam-ports in said valve, said steam-ports being sopositioned as to register with the admission ports simultaneously,whereby steam may be admitted to the cylinder through bothadmission-ports simultaneously.

4. In a valve mechanism for a steam-engine, a steam-chest, a rotaryvalve therein, means to rotate said valve, said steam-chest having aplurality of inlet or admission ports leading to the cylinder, and saidvalve having a plurality of steam-ports, the angular distance betweenany two adjacent ports in the valve being the same as that between theinletports, whereby steam is admitted to the cylinder a plurality oftimes during each rotation of the valve and through both inletportssimultaneously.

5. In a valve mechanism fora steam-engine, a steam-chest, a rotary valvetherein, means to rotate said valve, said steam-chest having a pluralityof inlet-ports leading to the cylinder and an exhaust-port leading fromthe cylinder, said valve having a plurality of steam-ports and acorresponding number of exhaust-ports, the angular distance between anytwo adjacent steam-ports being such that as the valve rotates said twoports are brought simultaneously into register with the two inlet-portswhereby steam is admitted to and exhausted from the cylinder a pluralityof times during each rotation of the valve and is admittedsimultaneously through both inlet-ports.

6. In a steam-engine, a series of cylinders, a steam-chest having aplurality of inletports leading to the same end of each cylinder, arotary valve in said steam-chest, means to rotate the same, said valvehaving a series of steam-ports cooperating with the inlet-ports of eachcylinder, whereby steam is admitted to each cylinder a plurality oftimes during each rotation of the valve and through all the inlet-portsto any one cylinder simultaneously.

7. In a steam-engine, a series of cylinders, a steam-chest having twoinlet-ports leading to the same end of each cylinder, and anexhaust-port leading therefrom, a rotary valve in said steam-chest,means to rotate the same, said valve having a plurality of steam-portsand a plurality of exhaust-ports cooperating with each cylinder, wherebysteam is admitted to and exhausted from each cylinder a plurality oftimes during each rotation of the valve.

8. In a valve mechanism forsteam-engines, a steam-chest having an admission-port leading to a cylinder, a hollow rotary reversible mainvalve in said steam-chest, said valve having a steam-port adapted toperiodically register with the admission-port, a hollow cut-01f valvefitting the interior of the main valve and having a port therein, meansto admit steam to the interior of the cut-cit valve,

said cut-offvalve being adapted to be adjusted about its axis wherebythe point of cut oil": of the main valve may be varied, and means toreverse the main valve.

9. In avalve mechanism forsteam-engines, an admission-port leading tothe cylinder, a hollow rotary reversible main valve having one or moresteam-ports to periodically register with one or more admission-ports, acutofi valve in the interior of the hollow rotary valve, whereby thepoint of cut-off of the main valve may be varied, and means to re-.

verse the main valve.

10. In a steam-engine, a cylinder, an admission-port leading to thecylinder and an exhaust-port leading therefrom, a rotary reversiblevalve controlling said ports, means to rotate the valve andvalve-reversing m echanism.

11. In asteam-engine, a plurality of cylinders, an admission-portleading to each cylinder and an exhaust-port leading from each cylinder,a rotary reversible valve controlling all of said ports, andvalve-reversing mechanism.

12. In a steam-engine, a cylinder, a piston therein having operativeconnection with a crank-shaft, a steam-chest having an inletport leadingto the cylinder and an exhaust port leading therefrom, a valve in saidsteamchest, means to rotate said valve, said valve having a steam-portadapted to periodically register with the inlet-port, and an exhaustportadapted to periodically register wit-h the exhaust-port leading from thecylinder, and means whereby the valve may be shifted relative to itsrotative mechanism, the construction being such that the direction ofrotation of the crank-shaft is determined by the position of the valve.

13. In a steam-engine, a plurality of cylinders, pistons therein havingoperative connections with a crank-shaft, a rotary valve controlling theadmission of steam to all of said cylinders and the exhaust therefrom,valve actuating mechanism, and means whereby the relative position ofthe valve and the crank-shaft may be changed, the construction of thevalve being such that the direction of rotation of the crank-shaftisdetermined by the relative position of the valve thereto.

14. In a steam-engine, a plurality of cylinders, a steam-chest havingtwo admissionports leading to the same end of each cylinder and anexhaust-port leading from each cylinder, a hollow rotary main valve insaid steam-chest, said valve having a plurality of steam-ports adaptedto cooperate with the admission-ports of each cylinder and acorresponding number of exhaust-ports, an adjustable hollow cut-offvalve inside of and concentric with the main valve and means to admitsteam to the interior of the cut-0E valve, the adjustment of the cut-offvalve varying the point of cut-off of the main valve.

15. In a steam-engine, a series of cylinders, a steam-chest [having acylindrical bore, a

hollow rotary valve fitting said bore, a plurality of connectedsteam-spaces partially surrounding said valve, and constituting anexhaust chamber, admission and exhaust ports leading to andfrom eachcylinder, said valve having a series of steam-ports cooperating with theadmission-ports of each cylinderand adapted to periodically connect saidadmission-ports with the interior of the valve, and a series of recessesin its periphery cooperating with each exhaust-port, said recessesoperating to periodically connect each exhaust-port with thesteam-spaces, and means to admit steam to the interior of the valve,whereby steam is admitted and exhausted from each cylinder a pluralityof times during each rotation of the valve.

16. In a steam-engine, a series of cylinders, a steam-chest having acylindrical bore, and a steam-chamber, each cylinder having anexhaust-port and two admission-ports, a r0- tary hollow reversible valvefitting said cylindrical bore, said valve having a plurality ofsteam-ports adapted to cooperate with the admission-ports of eachcylinder, and opening into the interior of the valve, and a plurality ofrecesses on its periphery cooperating with each exhaust-port, saidrecesses operating to periodically connect each exhaust-port with thesteam-chamber, whereby steam is admitted to and exhausted from eachcylinder a plurality of times during each rotation of the valve.

17. In a steam-engine, one or more cylinders, a steam-chest having acylindrical bore and a steam-chamber, two admission-ports leading toeach cylinder, and an exhaustport leading from each cylinder, a hollowrotary main valve fitting said cylindrical bore, and having a pluralityof steam-ports cooperating with the admission-ports of each cylinder,and a plurality of recesses in its periphery cooperating with eachexhaust-port, a hollow cut-off valve concentric with and on the interiorof the main valve, said outofi valve having two ports adapted to006perate with the admission-ports, and means to adjust the cut-offvalve angularly, whereby the point of cut-off of the main valve may bevaried.

18. In a valve mechanism for steam-engines, a valve having a steam-port,and main and auxiliary exhaust-ports, and means to operatethe valve,whereby the auxiliary exhaust-port closes subsequent to the main-ex-'haust-port.

19. In a valve mechanism for steam-engines, a rotary valve having asteam-port, a

main exhaust-port and an auxiliary exhaustto periodically register withthe inlet or ad mission port to the cylinder, means to admit steam tothe interior of the valve, said valve having a recess on its exterioradapted to cooperate with the exhaust-port of the cylinder, andauxiliary exhaust-openings connecting said recess with the exterior ofthe valve, said openings allowing any water of condensation to escapeafter the exhaust-port is closed.

21. In a steam-engine, a steam-chest having admission and exhaust-portsleading to and from the cylinder, a rotary hollow valve in saidsteam-chest, means to admit steam to the interior of said valve, asteam-port extending through said valve, and adapted to periodicallyregister with the admission-port, an exhaust-chamber in saidsteanrchesr, a recess in the periphery of the valve and adapted toconnect the exhaust-port with the exhaust-chamber, and an auxiliaryexhaustopening at the rear of the recess, and connecting the same withthe exterior of thevalve, whereby the communication between theexhaust-port and exhaust-chamber is open through the auxiliary openingsafter it is closed through the recess.

In a steam-engine, a plurality of cylinders, a steam-chest having acylindrical bore, a hollow rotary valve fitting said bore, anexhaust-cham her partially surrounding said valve, admission and exhaustports leading to and from each cylinder, said valve having a series ofsteam-ports cooperating with the ad n1iSsion-port of each cylinder, anda series of recesses in its periphery cooperating With each exhausbport,said recesses each having auxiliary exhanst-openings extending to theexterior of the valve and means to admit steam to the interior of saidvalve.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two so hscribing Witnesses.

CHARLES CROMPION.

\Vitnesses:

GEORGE H. KIMBALL, HERMAN F. KLINGELE.

